Amplified
by Rabakku
Summary: Ultra-sense Jaune AU. Jaune's over abundance of aura may have some interesting side effects. Times are becoming rather unusual. Weirder missions, even weirder allies, and crazy twists will all appear in "Amplified". Arkos focused, but may hint at BMBLB and WhiteRose. Rating changed to T for mild language and intense fight scenes.
1. Unworthy?

**Hey guys, Rabakku here. After various *cough* failures *cough cough*, I am finally back at it again with a new story. Hopefully this will be a fresh start for me, and this time I actually have a partner to help me on this story. This will be a collab, he will continue to be a huge help as this story progresses. This story may last around 3-6 chapters, but that is pure speculation. Anyway, let's hop into it.**

* * *

"Ozpin wants to see me?"

* * *

At first I was mildly confused. Now, I'm panicking out of my mind.

'The only possible justification for me getting called is my transcripts. That has to be it. Normally he just calls us to his conference room, but to go directly to his office… This is definitely a big deal. But in the end, do I even belong here? I don't even have a Semblance! Some prodigies unlock theirs as early as the age of 4. If it wasn't for Pyr-'

My thoughts shifted from panic to downright depressing. I had to leave my team behind, my friends. And, _her_. Throughout all my time here, she was the only reason I've had any grounds on which to stay. It was her who unlocked my Aura. She was the one who made me feel like I could be the leader, that I had such a place in Beacon Academy.

But that may all come to an end, because I lied for something I don't deserve. I walked down the hall at an anxious yet slow pace, before staring the door down in agony. I raised my hand and gave it a light tap.

"Come in, Mr. Arc. We have much to discuss."

I wrapped my hand around the handle and gave it a turn before opening the door. Ozpin stared me down across the room, but to my surprise, it was a soft look, not the harsh disdainful one I had expected. I walked forward and took a seat in front of him, passing him a nervous smile as if I was at the most important interview of my life. He leaned forward and intertwined his hands in front of his chin with his elbows on the desk. He stared at me expectantly. This lasted for about 2 minutes before he finally said, "So?"

"Y-you called me in here, what for?"

He just smiled, "I think you are already well aware of the answer to that." He was dead right, but it wasn't something I was comfortable with saying aloud.

"My transcripts."

"Yes, about those. Well done, aren't they? Had me going for 2 whole days."

"You've known since before school had started?! W-why would you make me team leader? Or even allow me to stay in the first place? If it wasn't for Phyrra, I wouldn't have even made it out of the forest, I-"

"Haven't given me any reason to regret that just yet, have you?"

This was a question I was completely unsure about. I was a total mess, even now my skill still lacks in multiple departments. I just looked away, "I don't suppose I gave you any reason to regret it, but I don't think I've done anything to justify you letting me in, either."

"That is precisely why I need you to prove yourself, Mr. Arc." I looked up at Ozpin with expectant eyes. "What you _have_ proven to me, is that you have the necessary leadership skills to stay the leader of team JNPR. Though I have made my mistakes, I refuse to believe appointing you were one of them. However, your fighting skills will need to improve vastly if you wish to live up to our standards here at Beacon. Though I wish I could allow you to learn on your own, I am not willing to take the risk that it may cost you your life, or the lives of your fellow hunters and huntresses."

My breath hitched, "What exactly would I have to do to show I can improve enough to stay?"

"Spar with me, Jaune."

The empty room fell silent, with even my breathing going quiet. Could I last even two minutes against someone of his caliber?

* * *

We stood about 20 feet apart, across the arena from one another. The rules were simple, knock the other out the ring. Of course, I was offered a handicap. If I could stay in for 30 seconds, I would win. The ring felt pretty small, just a drawn circle surrounding us two, probably no more than 30 feet wide.

"I will not be holding back, Mr. Arc. This will not be easy. Make sure to focus that aura you've unlocked, you will certainly be needing it."

"We start... Now."

I didn't have a second to react, he was already close, throwing a wide kick at me. It hit with full force. Thankfully I was allowed Crocea Mors in the battle, and was able to stop myself from immediately getting thrown out by stabbing the ground to stop the momentum. However, I wasn't allowed a moment of rest as he was already upon me again, ready to strike the next blow. Again, his attack hit hard, and already my body felt weaker. Though I didn't go airborne, I did fall backwards. I recovered as quick as I could. His next attack was thrown just as quickly as the last, a right hook aimed at my jaw. I raised up my shield and it negated some of the damage, but the force still shoved me back a foot or two. He continued, deliberately attacking my shield forcing me back more and more. I reared up and shield bashed against my assailant, but it had little effect besides pushing him back for just a moment. But that was what I needed, just more "moments", more time off the clock.

I was shoved back really far, the edge seeming to grasp me backwards. I had a whole 15 more seconds to get by, at least. I raised my shield, and somehow, my Crocea Mors felt, _heavier_. I sheathed my sword and grabbed the shield with both hands, and as Ozpin went to hit it, his hand seemed to almost bounce off. He stood there for just a moment, baffled. 5 seconds left, in a burst of hope I threw myself into Ozpin, knocking him onto his back. He reacted by shoving me off to the side with tremendous strength, but didn't have enough time to remove me from the arena after his recovery. As the timer ticked down to zero, the bell that followed marked a chance for my future at Beacon.

He dusted himself off and stared at me as I picked myself up. He simply just gave me a nod before turning to exit the private gym room.

Hesitantly, I stopped him on his way out with a call, "Does this mean I get to stay?"

He turned back to face me, "You won, didn't you?" He finished his exit and let the door close behind him, leaving a loud, booming echo in the large room. The room eventually fell silent again, leaving me to contemplate my next move.

* * *

On my way back, something felt noticeably wrong. I couldn't quite tell off the top of my head. I could have sworn my vision had improved, but I couldn't really tell. And I was hearing a lot of thumping from something, too. People seemed to be stomping a lot today as well. The pounding was starting to get on my nerves.

Velvet Scarlatina, one of the many faunus students at Beacon, had stopped me, "Have you seen Coco?"

"Why are you talking so loudly?" Her voice seemed a bit too raised for us being so close.

"What? I'm talking at a normal tone."

"You sound like you're yelling." I complained to the bunny Faunus.

"I think it's just you, I constantly have things sound way louder than they should due to my ears," She gave them a cute little wiggle along with that line. "Maybe your ear hurts, so it's more sensitive than usual. Anyway, if you haven't seen Coco, then I'll continue my search. See you layta!"

I proceeded to my dorm room, knocking just in case anyone was doing personal things. After a confirmation the dorm was clear from Ren, I entered. Pyrrha was sitting on her bed across from the doorway, but she quickly made her way towards me as soon as she saw me. "What exactly did Ozpin want?" She seemed nervous, but I was too distracted by a ridiculously loud thumping to answer. I shook my head, trying to see if maybe it was my own thoughts.

Pyrrha waved her hand in front of my face. "Jaune? What's wrong?"

I shook it off and gave her a smile, "Everything is okay, Ozpin just had a question about the information on my transcripts."

She sighed happily, "You had me worried when you left like you did. It's rather odd for Ozpin to pull anyone straight from class."

I nodded, and just continued to smile warmly at her, "Everything is taken care of, so it's all right."

Pyrrha nodded, and I swear I saw a subtle blush rise on her expression. My own face grew pink as well, but before I said anything, she had turned to walk back to her bed. The thumping grew faster. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight. The constant *thump* *thump* was actually kind of calming, in the end. It'd probably be gone by tomorrow either way.

* * *

 **So, chapter one complete. This chapter was short, but they will get longer. This is still a work in progress, so forgive the team for any mistakes and feel free to submit your own CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. If you want to be nasty about it, we won't take your opinion into consideration. We will see you in the next chapter.**

 **Forgive the layout, this was done on mobile.**


	2. Interuptions

**Welcome back! Poor mistake on my part, I didn't even tell you what time the story took place. This story is set after Season 3, except with a successful Vytal Vestival and no attack on Vale. Anywho, let's just hop into it for chapter two!**

 **Reviewer Response:**

 **Merendinoemiliano: Our plans for this story have evolved greatly and things like that will certainly be possible. To the ship comment, we most likely won't get very far into the RWBY team themselves. They will have their moments, but I did state it was Arkos Focused.**

 **Psychominer: We will see just how far it goes. Just, don't expect anything too far fetched of what may actually be in the show.**

 **343: We shall do just that.**

* * *

*Thump, thump*

*Thump, thump*

The sound was constant.

It wouldn't go away.

I didn't _dislike_ it. It was…

Soothing, nice… I couldn't really describe it.

But it was there.

* * *

After an extensive night, morning finally came around. I rubbed the corners of my eyes in an attempt to clear them up, but they were sensitive, and a little irritated. I sat up and slid to the side of the bed. The thumping was there, still going at a rhythmic pace in the back of my head, but it felt a lot calmer.

My hand went over to my eye drops, promptly opening the bottle and dropping a few of the liquid drops onto my eye. I squinted as my eyes felt the sudden impact. I began my morning rituals, and got ready for the day. We decided on a system where Ren and I would get up first, which allowed us a full room to move around and get ready while still maintaining our privacy. Then, we'd wake the girls, allowing them their share. Of course, Ren was already awake, and ready to face the day. I don't see how he functions so easily in the mornings.

In the process of dressing, the thumping grew faster. It definitely was hard to ignore. I continued to shake it off, just praying it would give me a rest at some point. I finished up getting changed and decided to brush my teeth. As I finished and left the bathroom, I walked over to Pyrrha and gave her a decent nudge to get to awaken her.

Pyrrha rolled herself forward slowly before intertwining and extending her hands in a morning stretch. She pushed against the bed to allow her into somewhat of a sitting position. "Good Morning, Jaune."

It wasn't long before I caught myself staring. As her head lifted off the bed, she gave a surprisingly adorable yawn before brushing her hair out of her face with her hands. Her look was a drowsy one, with a sleepy smile. A deep blush flooded my cheeks, forcing me to turn my body to retain my dignity. I rubbed the back of my head and shook it before turning back to her.

"Well, I'll, uh, I'll leave you and Nora to it!"

She chuckled and nodded towards me, "Alright Jaune, we'll see you in a bit!" Pyrrha was definitely more enthusiastic than normal. I looked over at Ren, noticing he had already managed to wake up Nora, which usually took awhile. He had probably promised her pancakes or something. I gave my red-haired teammate a final smile as I opened and proceeded out of our room.

*Thump Thump*

I had actually completely forgotten about it for a while. The thumping. It was quieter. It was still a steady beat, but it seems faster than last night. I shook it back off as Ren opened the door behind me again.

He pulled out his wallet and reviewed it's contents before giving himself a little nod of approval. "You okay with eating at R-Hop again?"

I sighed. Remnant's House of Pancakes. My previous speculation was correct. "That's like the 20th time this month!? Do you not get tired of them?"

Ren shrugged, "I don't really mind it, so long as you guys don't."

It crossed my mind that Ren and Pyrrha's voices were louder than usual, but I decided to shrug it off due to Velvet's words from the previous day. I think I should just pay the local health center a visit.

"I'll let you and Nora go on ahead. I'll handle mine and Pyrrha's meal this time. Besides, if she already had plans to go this morning, I wouldn't be the one who would want to break the news otherwise." I pictured Nora raging over it in my head. I chuckled lightly at the thought.

Ren had a smile on his face, but I had no way of pinpointing it's very cause. We drifted into a state of silence as we waited for the girls to ready themselves. It felt like ages had passed before they finally exited their room. My clock told me it was only 13 minutes.

Pyrrha seemed pretty fancied up for a weekend. I certainly didn't mind, she was already so-

I let out a disappointed sigh.

I couldn't think that way. We were teammates, after all. I never could just deny that I liked her. It was an easy thought for me to get past. After all, she is the most coveted student at Beacon Academy, even winner of the Vytal Tournament. But, I could never be good enough for her, and such a thing could end up bad for the team. Shoving those thought to the back of my mind, I focused my attention back onto my team.

"If you don't mind, our team will be splitting for breakfast today."

Nora gave a determined smirk. "As long as Ren holds up his end of the bargain."

Ren just gave her a smile, "Yes, yes, we're getting pancakes. But don't use too much syrup. We don't want a repeat of 'The Incident'."

They all shivered.

"Ahh, besides the point. Pyrrha, if you choose a restaurant, I can handle the bill," I stated.

She began fumbling with her back pocket. She smiled especially warmly up at me, absolutely melting my composure.

The door swung open from the opposite side of the hall, followed by a voice. "They opened a new place down by Tukson's Book Trade. I've heard good reviews over it." Blake had interjected.

It sounded fine to me, and a nod from Pyrrha told me she was open to try it a well. The rest of team RWBY shuffled out of the room. The way they were dressed gave the message they had plans themselves. We exchanged basic greetings and decided to head off in our opposite directions.

* * *

The restaurant was miniscule compared to what I expected. It didn't seem all too fancy either, but the second the door opened, the various aromas stormed over me. It was a pleasant invitation inside. We entered and sat by the window. The smell was even stronger inside. Insanely strong. I didn't exactly believe it was the food. It seemed like they had something just to create and strengthen the aroma, but at the same time I could distinguish it all. Every single smell, I could pull out from one another. I shifted my attention from the assortment of smells over to my teammate. Pyrrha seemed to hide her face from across the table.

It slightly worried me, she seemed to be acting odd. She was shifting her weight around a lot, her eyes wandering about the place. She wasn't one to act like this at all. Her eyes lifted upwards, and she caught me staring. I looked away, maybe a bit too quickly. My face grew a light hue of red. I wanted to break the ice, but my awkwardness with words erased the thought of doing so.

"Welcome to Aura Borealis, may I start you guys off with some drinks?" A loud voice jumpscared me from the side, the sound only enhanced by my ears. Pyrrha didn't seem as startled as I was, just slightly surprised. I turned to the voice. There stood a young, dog-like faunus. I wondered why I didn't her her walking towards us, until I had noticed her shoes. FaunVerse. With those on, she was just as quiet as Blake. She was standing with a wide ear to ear grin plastered on her face, holding a notepad in front of her ready to jot down our request.

"Pyrrha?" I motioned to my partner, allowing her to order first.

She nodded and before choosing a half sweetened/half unsweetened tea. I ordered a small coffee.

"Right away!" the waiter confirmed excitedly. "Oh, and we have a Hunter/Huntress discount going on, half off on everything you order!" She then proceeded to walk off to get our beverages.

Pyrrha blushed. Ever since the Vytal Festival, she was pretty much a celebrity. And even though Yang lost out to her in the end, she certainly got her fair share of spotlight, too. It wasn't a surprise the waitress could tell we were hunters, or even know our names.

"So, Jaune, uhm." Pyrrha stammered. There was undoubtedly something wrong, but I didn't really know what to say. "Do you remember Neon and Flynt?"

"Yeah, the duo that Yang and Weiss fought, right?."

My teammate nodded and gave a nervous smile, "Yeah, it-" She seemed like she was almost choking on her words. During the stutters, it occured to me that the thumping was still active, and quite quick. Pyrrha continued, "Well, they, they have a band. Like, their full four member team is one, actually. They, uhm, invit-"

"Did you two decide what you would want to order?" The young Faunus once again made her appearance."

The redhead across from me sighed and glanced over the menu, "I'll, take, the curried chicken salad, please."

"I'll take the steamed ham with a side of lotus roots."

The waitress nodded and told us, "Give us about 15 minutes," before skipping off merrily.

"So, what were you talking about, Pyrrha?"

"Oh, right. Uhm, they are having a concert in two days pretty close to the port. After the tourn-"

Again, the lady bounded back to us, two drinks in hand. "Here you guys go, I will be back with the meals shortly."

Pyrrha looked flustered, and possibly frustrated. "Th-"

She didn't even get another word out before our alarms went off, signaling an emergency we needed to attend to.

* * *

I dropped 3000 lien on the table and hopped up, hoping that would pay for the meal currently being prepared for us. I couldn't begin to think what the emergency could be, but I knew we needed to be there or civilians could end up paying the price.

Pyrrha was a bit quiet after we left, but I didn't know if that was because she was upset our breakfast was cut short, or just because she was focused on the mission. The mission itself was, if nothing else, very standard. Drive off some Grimm, and make sure no-one gets hurt. But we had been given very few details otherwise.

Honestly, it was becoming all too common for us to not be very well informed about what was going on.

Ramblings aside, Pyrrha and I soon met up with Ren and Nora in our room. The latter of which still had whipped cream on her face from her pancakes. "Nora you've got a little…" I gestured toward my bottom lip. Catching my meaning she licked it off and gave a winning smile. Ren seemed amused by this.

"Well, since we're all here, let's discuss what we'll be doing, then get ready." After everyone sat down, Nora was the first to ask. "What exactly _is_ the mission?"

"The mission is to head down to Forever Fall Forest, and deal with a Nevermore threat. Apparently, after RWBY's fight with the giant Nevermore, they realized it was more than sheer coincidence that it was around the initiation area. After sending some people to look, they found a nest, and need us to take care of it before they begin preying on those who frequent the forest." After few baffled looks in my direction, I explained.

"Yeah, apparently trips into the forest are really common, and some people even _live there._ I couldn't tell you _why_ people love the Grimm infested forest so much, but at the very least, you can only live there if you're a licensed huntsman or huntress, or live with one."

Ren shrugged, Nora snorted, and Pyrrha still looked confused. But none of them could deny the forest really was quite beautiful. Ren was the first to assess the mission itself, however. "How dangerous is this mission? If the Nevermore are anything like that one from initiation, then-" "Don't worry about that. Ozpin assured me that though these Nevermore are large, they are not even close to the monster that showed up then. They are much younger and weaker, as well." Satisfied with that answer, Ren went back to his normal 'silent guardian' attitude. Nora was less so. "Awwww… That's no fun."

"Maybe not fun, but at least we don't need to worry as much about dying." Nora continued pouting in the corner. "So do we have a plan?" Pyrrha piped up from her seat for the first time since leaving the restaurant. "In fact, we do. Alright guys, gather around… This is what we're gonna do…"

* * *

' _My ears'_ was the only thing I could think at the time. The Bullhead was buzzing excessively loud in my ears." Our team had a rendevouz at the school before boarding onto a bullhead and taking off to Forever Fall Forest, which didn't take long. Only 20 minutes or so had even passed.

"So how much longer until we get there?" Nora was getting rather antsy to actually start the mission. After we had all gotten ready, they had a bullhead waiting for us out on the air-docks. It was the quickest way to reach the nest area, and given the circumstances, time was of the essence.

But despite that, there was still something on everybody's mind. Pyrrha was the first to voice it to the team. "Why have us do this mission? We don't really have much experience compared to many other teams, and we're not really well suited for a fight against several flying targets either."

She was right. We had an explanation of why we were doing this, but not why _**we**_ were doing it. And besides, Pyrrha's Milo was the only thing we have that has super long range. I'm useless in this fight,and Ren was only slightly less so, but only Nora and Pyrrha would have any real effect. Unless, we managed to catch them in the nest, but that was a slim chance.

"I'm sure there's a good reason. I doubt Ozpin would send us if he had any better alternatives. The man's no fool, after all." As with the ride up to this point, the rest of it went on in silence. Or, at least, as much silence as there could be in one of these damn things. I think I'm starting to get sick...

* * *

We finally touched down after what felt like ages, and I immediately ran past the nearest tree to preserve some fraction of my dignity as I vomited into a bush. After some relief i brought myself back to the team.

' _First, we need to find the exact location, without alarming the birds beforehand.'_

The dropship left us about halfway up a mountain to allow a good view, without awakening the bird-like nightmare via Bullhead. Nora began to scale the mountain a little further behind us, pulling out a special made pair of binoculars that was usually only allowed to pro-class hunters. We watched her scan the valley from her vantage point. "Nothing!" She sounded from about 200 feet above us.

Pyrrha thought for a second before sending her reply. "They must be east of this mountain then!"

We navigated around to the opposite side and allowed Nora to do a second scan. "Uhm, Guys!"

 _Nora's voice_ _ **quivered**_. That, never, under any circumstance, is okay. "Nora! What's the matter?"

"Let's just say, we aren't just messing with 1 or 2."

 **(** **S' Author's Note** **)**

 _ **Hi guys! I'm S, the co-author! I'm helping your favorite author Rabakku! Thanks so much for reading our story! To be entirely honest, he's the main writer here. I was the one who proposed the idea, but he's put so much more into it than I have, while still dealing with his own life and issues. So give him the credit he deserves for this wonderful writing. This started very small, and we weren't planning the grand masquerade we are now, but it changed a lot in the short time since we started. I really hope you like it. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself, and make sure you understood how dedicated he is. Please, leave any feedback you may have for us. See you in the next chapter!**_

 **(** **Rabakku's Author's Note** **)**

 **The choice of food was chosen based on common meals and foods from the show itself. The food isn't too diverse, but ranges from chicken nuggets to crepes to lotus roots (Which, if you haven't tried them before, do so). As for lien, the conversion seems to be the same as Japanese Yen (Qrow pays for a single drink with 4 bills), which is about 110 to the american dollar, and about 140 to a European Pound. I decided to just use the lien as if it was yen. This however is speculation from instances in the show and is not confirmed anywhere. Just some basic fact checks. ^^**


	3. Outnumbered

**Hello my fellow readers and writers, a quick thanks to the the people who have sent me follows and favorites. I promise to stay dedicated to this story, and if possible I will avoid any and all hiatuses until we have completed this story. Our end goal still is unknown, but we are quickly getting a full plot smoothed out and finished. And, I personally feel a lot of cliche in this chapter, but when working on a character like Jaune, in a show like RWBY, it gets difficult to avoid those.**

 **Also, change to the summary. The main story principles will still be the most relevant, but I feel like the summary isn't holding to what the story will end up being.**

 **Something I forgot about about: Disclaimers.**

 **I do not own RWBY or any characters along with it. The only things that are mine are any appearing OCs and the story concept itself.**

 **One last thing, we would have uploaded midday yesterday, but the log-on servers seem bugged and wouldn't let me on.**

 **Chapter 3 is here, so let's get to it.**

* * *

This… Could be an issue.

The mission we had been sent on was no longer just a simple matter of killing a couple Nevermore then destroying the nest, but instead, we had to deal with _nine_ of the damn things. They may not be as large or strong as the one from initiation, but with this many, it wouldn't really matter. Seemed I wasn't the only one feeling a bit concerned about it if Ren and Nora were any indication.

"No. There's no way, we _cannot_ deal with this. It's too much for us to handle." Nora was not having this. She was panicking, which was incredibly uncharacteristic of her.

"Nora, I understand why you're afraid of all those Nevermores, but you need to calm down," Ren reassured. After a moment of silence, Nora came around.

"Alright. Alright. We can… We can do this. It'll be fine." I felt kind of bad for listening in, but I couldn't help it. They were pretty far away, but they sounded like they were right next to me.

"Pyrrha, you think we can do this, right?" She didn't respond. I looked over to her only to notice she hadn't even heard me. She looked to be completely zoned out, lost in her thoughts. I waved my hand in front of her eyes. "Hey, Pyrrha? Are you in there?"

She snapped out of her stupor and stared at me for a moment. "Ah, uhm… Sorry about that, the mission just has me a bit shaken."

I looked down, knowing it was my job to step up and be the leader, but here I was. Three amazing hunters in training next to me, and they were all scared at the odds. And as a leader, I couldn't move. I felt frozen, but seeing Pyrrha distraught, I shook my head and readied my voice. "Ren, Nora!" I called to them. They raced over and skidded to a stop in front of me. After I had my full team's attention, I began, "9 nevermores, 4 of us. I know we have fought through incredible odds, but we are seriously outnumbered here. We will not die today, but we are going to have to retreat. The Bullhead is at a rendezvous point about", I quickly referenced my map, "3 miles away. Ozpin asked us to fight, but he didn't know the odd so it's understandable for us to run today. Le-'

*PHWOOSH*

An incredibly strong gust of wind knocked me off balance, pushing me onto all fours. I had to fight to stand again with the intense gales throwing me forward over, and over again. When I finally was able to stand see what had caused it, I wished I hadn't. A Nevermore that large could only be the other parent. We killed it's mate in initiation.

I only pray I'm wrong, but if there ever was such a thing as a Grimm that felt hate, this had to be it. I looked around at my team. They were all holding their footing with their weapons drawn. It'd be possible to take the Grimm on if it's spawn weren't still hanging around that nest.

It's mouth opened, and it let out a piercing shriek. It blasted throughout my ears, making my eardrums feel like they were about to explode. They were already sensitive from the altitude and my current hearing issue, but now they felt like they were bleeding, with my entire head ringing on top of that. I cupped my ears and fell to my knees, hoping it would stop. I felt hands on my side, trying to lift me. I couldn't tell what was happening as another gust of wind past by, and the hands left me.

Everything was ringing. I couldn't see, I was in too much pain to feel, and my hearing was certainly not my saving grace.

I tried to think of a way out of this, but I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. I tried desperately to do anything, anything at all, even just to move, but I couldn't do it. And then, something tugged at the edges of my mind, just one thought, but it was something nonetheless.

"By baring your soul outward, you can deflect harm…. You project yourself and your soul when fighting…"

"It's like a forcefield!"

"Yes, if you want to look at it that way."

Suddenly, I could actually _see_ my aura. It was a bountiful white light, surrounding me. The ringing became quiet, and manageable. My pain was lightened. Pyrrha said I had a lot of aura, but this seemed unreal. While I wasn't fully recovered, I was able to see and hear again. I turned my eye on the surrounding situation. Ren was on top the nevermore. What? Nora had just landed beside me, as if thrown. Pyrrha was running towards me. She got on her knee beside me. "Jaune? Jaune!"

"I can fight, don't worry. We need to help Ren." She nodded, but looked reluctant to leave me. My aura boiled around me, fiery. It seemed, like it was yearning. Yearning to fight. I ignored the pain and the ringing as best I could, and unsheathed Crocea Mors. I felt my Aura with me.

"All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You project both yourself and your soul when fighting."

I stared at my weapon, Crocea Mors surrounded in my aura, my own soul's manifested feelings. I still couldn't hear very well with the ringing in my ears lingering. It would probably be bad if the bird screeched again, but for now, I was back. And with my team, I was going to hold my ground, even if I had to feel that pain forever. The Nevermore wouldn't allow us a safe retreat, but we needed to get off this mountain. We didn't have nearly enough footroom, which left us rather vulnerable when the avian began diving at us from above.

After dodging another swoop aimed at the three of us, the bird then tried to shake off Ren. I took the chance to garner the attention of my team,"We're going to kill the Nevermore, but we're sitting ducks up here! Nora, you're the only one who can get to Ren, so help him out! We are getting off this mountain!"

Ren didn't seem to hear me, while Nora and Pyrrha assured me that they had with a quick nod and a toothy grin. Nora, with a quick flip onto her hammer, launched herself at the Nevermore. While airborne, she grabbed onto Ren's tailcoat, pulling him off of the oversized Grimm. He remained impossibly collected, and didn't even flinch when he was suddenly yanked out of the sky. It was amazing to me how he had that kind of faith and trust in her. They both landed a short distance away from us, in a patch of snow a bit higher on the mountain. Ren dusted the snow off and Nora briefly told Ren of the fraction of a plan I had come up with. They both looked to us and Ren nodded.

They began their descent down the mountainside while the Nevermore was still recovering from its confusion. Luckily, it was fairly snowy this high up, so they were able to slide down with ease. I turned and stared at Pyrrha, and she gave me a reassuring expression before we both readied ourselves. While my landing strategy wasn't practiced, I finally had one. We both began our own descent down the rocky terrain, with the Nevermore slowly disappearing from sight behind us. I couldn't see it anymore while I looked back, but it would no doubt come after us.

"Jaune, look out!" Turns out looking behind yourself while sliding down a steep mountain isn't the best idea, as I learned now airborne. But I was able to recover thanks to Pyrrha's warning. In light of my complete lack of functionality, I had decided to ask Ruby about modifying Crocea Mors for me so I could be more useful. It wasn't anything special, but I was certainly glad I had gotten it now. I held up my shield and pressed in a newly placed trigger, which caused it to quickly unfurl into a large paraglider, which easily carried me down from there. Unfortunately, I had lost sight of Pyrrha in the process, and with my currently impaired hearing I started to get worried for a moment.

Thankfully, she had landed on top of a nearby tree, making her easy to spot as I passed by. I successfully touched down and my glider retracted back into shield form. I began making my way towards her, when I noticed the Nevermore swoop down behind her. I yelled at the top of my lungs at her to look out, and with the relatively quiet forest, she easily heard my call. Her reaction time was ungodly,her spear releasing and quickly impaling through the birds tongue. I watched her flip upwards, her body going completely sideways as she pressed her feet against the Nevermore's beak and launched herself away from it. Ren and Nora had appeared somewhere in between, the Nevermore's pain filled screeching making it easy to locate us. A point that made something all the more apparent: The Nevermore's offspring had not come to it's aid. I was curious as to why, but for the moment I could only be grateful for their delayed appearance. Refocusing my attention, I realized that the Grimm was absolutely losing it. Biting your tongue was one thing, but having it stabbed and ripped up sounded horrible, the motion and sound the Nevermore had released had seemed to agree. Enraged, the creature dove toward the ground, swiftly swiping at Pyrrha. She dodged with an immediate roll to the side. I realized I was spending way too much time spectating while my team fought this battle. I was still a good ways away from them, but was able to make up the distance easily enough. Well, minus a few heavy breaths.

By the time I had arrived, Ren and Nora were already at Pyrrha's side. I looked at my sword, my aura still alight upon it. "Nora, Arc Launcher!" I ran up behind her before leaping forward. My feet touched the head of her hammer, before she activated the explosive mechanism inside Magnhild to fling me upwards, allowing me grab hold of the avian's right leg. This was part of the plan we discussed, for dealing with one or two, that is.

' _Before anything, we need to remove its ability to fly. Since they're just larger, more deadly birds, they have issues similar to any normal bird. If we cut off it's flight feathers, then it's flight will be impaired.'_

Suddenly, Ren was in the air along with me, now hooked onto the opposite claw. It was throwing its legs about furiously in an attempt to throw us off, but we managed to hold on with an iron grip. After it settles down for a moment, likely distracted by Pyrrha and Nora, I set my feet on its talon and pushed off to throw myself upwards. I quickly lashed out at one of our target areas, not only removing a small portion of the remiges, but also cutting through part of the wing itself. Ren was falling back towards the ground, so I assume he clipped his wing too.

It shreaked in agony, and while the noise was still deafening, it was bearable now. However, they did have another negative side effect. Shrieks were heard in the distance; an answer to the distress call of their parent. Pyrrha continued with our plan, trying to at least rid of the Nevermore's aerial advantage before it's reinforcements would arrive. Her spear tore through the air, shaving its tail feathers. We knew she hit her mark when the Grimm lost the rest of its balance. It came falling forward, almost dive bombing. A flightless Nevermore is already as good as dead. Nora propelled herself upward with Magnhild, giving herself a good angle to slam her hammer down on the Grimm. She plummeted into the giant Grimm, smashing it toward the ground all the faster. After it's great fall to the dirt, with the assisted momentum from Nora, the Nevermore had finally died. It's remains began evaporating slowly into the sky.

It was a short-lived victory, however. 9 more were on their way. "Great as that was, let's not stick around to become bird food, shall we? We need to get to our escort!" It was a race against time. The Nevermore were still a great distance away, but they were much, much faster. After about 2 minutes of our little chase, some Beowolves had seemed to pick up our scent. Thankfully, there were no Alphas, and we cut through them as we dashed ahead with relative ease. But the Nevermore were _at most_ only a mile behind, and the Beowolves had attracted more, larger Grimm. The entire forest was out for blood now, and we were the only targets.

"The Bullhead is in the next clearing!" I yelled to my team-mates.

Unfortunately, the Nevermore caught up in just the nick of time, and the first of them wasted no time in sweeping away at Nora. She held the head of Magnhild at her feet, firing multiple times to propel herself forward. She avoided the bird of prey utilizing the speed, but the other 8 were just behind the first. Even if we made it to the ship, we would still have to fight them in the end. And in an aerial war no less, the arena in which these Grimm had been born to fight. The Bullhead came into view, sitting in the middle of a very large, open field. It was ideal for a large battle. Suddenly though, the ship began to move. On its own, the engines turned on, and it lifted off.

Pyrrha stopped in her tracks. "It's a Geist!" I stared at the ship in dismay. It turned to face us, and began picking up speed. There was no way for us to get away from it.

"Pyrrha!" I blurted it out hastily. With a quick nod, she used her semblance to wrestle control of the Bullhead. With a grunt of effort, she swung it around, slamming it into the many Beowolves that had been following us. It seemed she had to push her semblance hard to counteract the Geist's possession, but before releasing the ship, she threw it at the ground, promptly blowing up our escape, and releasing the Geist. Nora, however, was quick to put an end to it, firing off a grenade that had hopefully caused some collateral damage in the process. Now, the Nevermores. They surrounded us, same as the many other Grimm on the ground. We were lucky we hadn't attracted any deathstalkers or any of the such. My aura was still fiery, blazing in copious amounts. I may not be the strongest hunter, but I was determined not to fail my team. Fifty Beowolves or so, nine Nevermores and possibly even more reinforcements, all against the four of us. My team still seemed worried, but I knew they would never give up.

"Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, on three, we split into two groups into the woods. Pyrrha and Nora, go together, then Ren and I will. Try to separate the Grimm, and take them on in smaller groups!" I had more of a plan, but the Grimm wouldn't give us any more free time to chat, if the snarls and screeches were any indication. "1!" "2!" I took a deep breath. "3!"

We split, bolting in opposite directions. The Grimm split, but looking over my shoulder I noted that seven Nevermore were coming at the two of us. Suddenly, the ground beside me was impaled by a large feather.

"Into the woods!" Ren yelled before dashing under trees to hide. I followed suit. The Beowolves weren't quite fast enough to catch us, but they had the stamina to make up for it. We put some distance between us, but the Nevermore were eyeing us like we were snacks, already as good as caught. I avoided turning my head to them as much, since trees now obstructed some paths. Over and over we had to duck, dodge, and jump out of the way of oncoming swoops and feathers. At the very least, we had the advantage in numbers. Because there were so many, they didn't have room to attack us all at once. Ren had turned to shoot at them every now and then, but it had little to no effect. We had been on the run for about twenty minutes before we finally had some luck.

"Ren! Over here!" He immediately picked up his speed upon seeing the cave. Ahead of us was a large opening into a cavern, looking like it lead to an entire subterranean world. The Nevermore would have very little room to attack, and since they were young, they most likely were very naive. We dashed into the opening, and to mine and Ren's joy, two of the smaller Nevermore attempted to dive into the cave by themselves. The others slowed themselves at the entrance, but I wasn't sure what exactly they were going for. Maybe they planned to wait us out, but I didn't really know.

Suddenly, Ren's back leg was hit by a feather. Nearly falling forward, he stabilized himself, promptly removing it. The cut wasn't too bad, and his aura allowed it to seal quickly enough, but the Nevermore had been able to catch up. One flew beak-first at my head. I raised my shield and took the blow. I went airborne, and when my back met the rocky floor, the pain caught up with me. I pulled myself up, and focused as the second arrived. The first Grimm had stopped flying so it could turn to us without ramming itself into a wall, while the second trapped us by blocking the entrance. Not that going that way would be an improvement anyway.

Given that the Nevermore couldn't simply just fly up anymore, it left them fairly vulnerable. Ren focused and ran at his target. Confident that Ren could handle himself, I turned to my own quarry. I drew my weapon and charged forward. The Nevermore tried biting at me as I drove ahead. The enclosed space that prevented the Nevermore from flying proved to be a double edged sword, as it left me little room to dodge. It almost immediately engulfed me within it's beak, but I was quick enough to stab my sword upward into its mouth to prevent it from closing down on me. I struggled with the large Nevermore. It had an over-abundance of strength due to its size.

I focused my Aura in an attempt to draw more strength from it. I was surprised to find that the brilliant shine that had been plentiful and surrounding my entire body constantly was now circling around my sword and upper arms alone. As soon as it fully coalesced, the Aura-coated blade drove straight through the beak of the Nevermore.

I was stunned, watching Crocea Mors manage to go through such durable armor. I set both hands on my sword and pushed it forward as hard as I could. The sword went with my arms, cutting further and further through until it reached flesh, cleaving it effortlessly. I saw the wound I had left from the inside. The gash looked like it had to have reached halfway across the bird, as if my sword was triple the size it should have been.

The Nevermore was no more, the body evaporating in front of me, leaving me in awe. I fell to the ground, ending up on my butt. Ren approached me clearly as confused as I was, "What was that?"

I noticed I could no longer see my Aura around me. My body was calm, and though I was still in pain, I felt good. "I don't really know. Have you ever heard of Aura sharpening a sword? Or extending it?"

Ren shook his head, "I can't say I have, but it doesn't seem impossible."

"We need to find Pyrrha and Nora. Let's hope they cleared the Grimm that followed them without too much trouble." Ren pulled out his scroll and attempted to call them. I heard a 'boop' from the other end, and suddenly felt relieved.

* * *

We got out the cave without further issue, and met up with Nora and Pyrrha at the rendezvous. We only had to deal with a few Beowolves from there. We were as silent as possible so as to prevent another forest skirmish, which wasn't hard seeing as we had little to say or do. After we made a call to Beacon, they ordered another Bullhead to pick us up, seemingly annoyed they had lost one to begin with.

It took almost two hours for it to arrive, and we had take out out a few smaller Grimm during the wait, but we finally left the Forever Fall Forest.

Along our way back, I noticed my aura was no longer visible. The ringing in my ears had stopped, thankfully, but what stood out the most to me was that everything had become quieter. The airship wasn't ear shattering, and everybody's voices were softer. But the most noticeable difference was the thumping. I could no longer hear it. Though constant noise could be incredibly annoying, there was something soothing about hearing the repeating beat. I felt uneasy, and motion sick. But all that matters right now is that we all made it. I smiled to myself, remembering how I had finally managed to fight on my own, and against a Nevermore, no less. It was progress. Looking around at my team only made me smile more, everybody fully intact. As Team JNPR, we will hold a legacy one day.

* * *

 _ **POV: ?**_

*click, clack, click*

Ozpin stopped to overlook the table in front of him, examining the many chess pieces that filled it. He reached out and scooped up a knight.

"Seems Beacon will soon have a new ally."

* * *

 **Rabakku here, sorry the chapter took so long. We had a lot of problems trying not to create plot holes during this.**

 **Raba's Fact Check A/N: A lot of assumptions are made here. Considering we have Grimm of varying size (assume the smaller ones were about the size as the ones that came out of the breach, and the first was the size of the one in initiation), and the weird spawn puddles from volume 4 don't litter the forest to shoot them out, I am assuming they mate, and have kids. If you have anything against these things, I apologize. While it isn't canon, it isn't canon that they don't do these things. For those saying that Grimm have armor, they do. However, the feathers would obviously be more susceptible to damage due to them being thinner and and not technically part of their main body.**

 **And onto "Flight Feathers", assuming that Grimm Nevermore have similar anatomy to the Aves Class, which are simply birds. Most birds have a specific set of feathers called "flight feathers". They are on the tail "Rectrices" (which give the birds balance) and the wings "Remiges" (Which is what actually give the bird the ability to fly). When removed from birds it will always have some sort of effect on the way they fly. They are lined down the entire length of the wing, so keep in mind certain areas had to be targeted since removing them ALL would not be possible with just a few sword strikes.**

 **Last one, Tinnitus (Ringing in the ears) can last up to 2 weeks in the more extreme cases, but since Aura can heal things like people getting impaled, we will assume it healed a bit faster. Anyway, again, basic fact check with you guys so no one gets confused, or has questions. If you do still have questions, feel free to review and express the opinion, I will fully read said comment.**

 **S' Author's Note:** **Hello again! As well as the same message as last time, I just wanted to tell you a couple things. First, if for whatever reason you have questions specifically for myself or Raba, don't hesitate to ask. We will answer to the best of our abilities. Also, from this point forward, I'll be answering questions and responding to reviews, so if you're looking for that, it'll be in my Author's Note rather than Raba's. Hope you don't mind! That'll be all for me, so I hope to see you next chapter too!**


End file.
